Taxiarchis Fountas to D.C. United?, Paul Arriola trade, and more: Freedom Kicks for 1/25/2022

You wanted D.C. United news, and by golly, you’re getting it! Players signed, or will sign in the future, and we may see a big trade finalized today. After a quiet winter, it’s all happening.

Let’s get to the big transfer news:

Report: D.C. United to sign Rapid Vienna striker Taxiarchis Fountas | Black and Red United
Per Steven Goff, United is going to sign Taxiarchis Fountas on a 3-year, $7 million contract. They’re going to get him for free, which is great news, but he’ll be on a free transfer because he’s going to play out the remaining half-season on his Rapid Vienna contract. That means the earliest United could legally put him on the field would be July 8 against the Philadelphia Union, which is the first game of the second half of the regular season schedule.

Sticking with DP news:

Paul Arriola’s time with United appears to be over, with United still intending to sign a DP replacement for him before the start of the season. The next couple of weeks are going to be lively around these parts!

D.C. United signs defender Hayden Sargis from Sacramento Republic FC | Black and Red United
In the meantime, United has signed young center back Hayden Sargis, effective immediately. He’s been in camp since day one, and from what I’ve heard from USL Championship observers, he’s got tons of promise.

More on Sargis from Sacramento:

Sticking with the youngsters in the squad:

This is very good and reasonable. Paredes is first-choice here, and as of now Nyeman is a serious competitor to emerge as a starter in central midfield. Plus, the competition in an MLS team’s training camp is far stiffer than an under-20 group anyway, so even if they weren’t potential starters, it’d be better for their development.

Things have briefly calmed down in the world of the Washington Spirit, but we do have Emily Sonnett doing a series from USWNT camp:

Orlando City Signs Uruguayan Forward Facundo Torres | The Mane Land
Orlando just broke their record for a transfer fee to sign the 21-year-old attacker from Peñarol. He’ll probably step into the role Nani filled over the last couple of years.

Orange NYCFC kit revealed? | Hudson River Blue
We’re not quite there yet, but after a rumor said the Pigeons might have orange alternate kits, they played a preseason game in orange training tops. There have been some rumblings that MLS and Adidas may have finally heard fans on the “please no more plain white alternates” thing, but we’ll see once the kit reveals start to roll out.

Also, that should be soon! It’s January 25, opening day is just over a month away.

Down in Liga MX Femenil, former Utah Royals FC coach Craig Harrington (a forerunner to the wave of NWSL coaches fired for cause) is being accused of crossing some boundaries in his comments to opposing players while coaching Club América in their game against Monterrey last night:

Not great!

San Diego Wave FC acquire rights to goalkeeper Carly Telford | LAG Confidential
“Expansion team burns an international spot on their back-up goalkeeper” is a story we’ve all seen before in MLS — it’s virtually FC Cincinnati’s club motto, after all — and in NWSL it is possibly an even worse idea. With fewer international spots and possibly even more of a glut of good domestic goalkeeping talent, this one’s just hard to explain for a club that already has Kailen Sheridan.

Eight killed after crush outside Africa Cup of Nations match in Cameroon | The Guardian
Some terrible news from the Cup of Nations, as several people died in a crush of fans attempting to enter the stadium for Cameroon’s 2-1 win over Comoros.